


Permission Granted

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Matchmaking, Requited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-09 01:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7780900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven has several questions after seeing Garnet and Pearl kiss to form Sardonyx. Unfortunately, questions beget more questions. Garnet has to shelf her pride to actually get an answer. // Fluff, takes place immediately following 'Know Your Fusion', Pearlnet, trying to play with this 'Garnet doesn't ask questions' business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Permission Granted

Smoky Quartz was destroying the house.

 

Garnet was screaming (quietly) about their existence, shaking Pearl like a ragdoll, and all Pearl could think—in that moment—was that Smoky Quartz’s yoyo tricks were literally going to bring the house down on all of their heads.

 

Especially when they summoned a third yoyo.

 

“Garnet!” Pearl gasped as the Fusion pulled her in, cheeks pressed together. Garnet paused mid-scream and may have looked at her askance. With her visor, there was no telling. “A little help?”

 

Garnet understood what she meant immediately—but in her excitement, Gems aglow, she pulled Pearl in for a resounding kiss. And Pearl didn’t have time to be surprised—not about this—because dragonflies were already bursting to life between them as their forms melted into Sardonyx by the time she could kiss back.

 

The beginning of yet another disaster.

 

At least Sardonyx’s collateral damage was limited to _inside_ the Temple, in her room.

 

Steven and Amethyst regaled the details of their first time Fused later; Jasper’s defeat was glorious in hindsight. Smoky Quartz was an amalgam of Steven and Amethyst in ways Pearl understood a little better than Garnet could, but their shared low self-esteem wasn’t at all what either Gem had expected to be their bonding point. Pearl hugged them both and admonished each in turn on being faithless in their individual abilities and worth, and while it didn’t help, it was… sweet. It was an attempt. Garnet praised their cooperation and versatility, and Amethyst insisted that they talk about _action_ instead.

 

Realizing her own inaction, Pearl hurried to get to cleaning up the house while Garnet offered their younger companions the afternoon to themselves. Amethyst immediately took the bait—anything to avoid Garnet’s embarrassing praise, no matter how good it felt to hear—but Steven had questions of his own. While Garnet worked at righting furniture and assessed the damage done to the wall panel, Steven joined Pearl in the kitchen.

 

“Yes, Steven?” the pale Gem asked, inspecting their baking supplies to see what, if anything, could be salvaged towards the cookies she had planned to make.

 

Steven had the presence of mind to keep his voice low, casting a surreptitious glance Garnet’s way. “Um…” he started, “When did you and Garnet… you know, start dating?”

 

Pearl hadn’t expected that. At all.

 

The wooden spoon in her hand nearly slipped through her fingers, and she squeaked, feeling color rush to her face. Pearl said nothing, staring first at Steven, then at Garnet’s back. She swallowed hard. “We’re not.”

 

“Huh?!” Steven asked, louder than he meant to. “But… you kissed?”

 

“Yes,” Pearl said woodenly, “Garnet was very excited about your Fusion. We both were.”

 

“But you kissed back,” Steven insisted, “I mean, I don’t remember it that clearly, but Smoky was surprised, too. Before Sardonyx appeared.”

 

Pearl froze, finally exhaling stale air that her lungs didn’t want or need. “I did.”

 

“So you like each other?” the boy was hopeful, and Pearl knew that if she looked, she’d see the starry-eyed look in his eyes that so reminded her of Rose.

 

“Maybe,” Pearl said uncertainly, dodging the question. “We’ve never talked about it.”

 

Fortunately, Steven missed the hint of longing in her tone. “I didn’t know you could kiss to Fuse!” he went on excitedly, “Do Ruby and Sapphire do it too?” and then, in a lower voice, innocent and full of wonder; “If Connie and I kissed would we turn into Stevonnie?”

 

“ _Steven_!”

 

“But Pearl, you like when I ask questions about Gem stuff!”

 

“I don’t have answers for questions like this,” Pearl insisted, cheeks a brilliant blue. She turned her attention back to salvaging the poor bowl of half-stirred eventual-cookie dough. “Garnet’s the one to ask when it comes to Fusion.”

 

She knew the moment she said it that this would end in disaster.

 

Before Pearl could caution him against it, Steven was half way across the room, eager to ask Garnet everything he possibly could. The Fusion smoothed a hand through his hair affectionately, then, to Pearl’s horror, nodded toward the warp pad. Steven bounded merrily off, and Garnet looked at Pearl and surely, behind her visor, must have made eye contact before the two warped away.

 

Pearl set the bowl aside and groaned into her hands.

 

She still hadn’t confessed to Garnet yet.

 

After today, she didn’t know if she _could_.

 

* * *

 

Garnet fielded Steven’s onslaught of questions with relative ease. Where Pearl was outwardly flustered, Garnet internalized such things and carefully redirected Steven’s questions away from what he really wanted to ask.

 

Unfortunately for her, Steven was easily sidetracked—so much so that he got back onto his original line of questioning several times while they did laundry together.

 

“Garnet, do you like Pearl?” Steven asked finally, and Garnet supposed that she couldn’t avoid the question forever.

 

“Of course.” The answer was carefully guarded. “She’s my best friend.”

 

“But I mean—“

 

“I didn’t kiss her completely on accident,” Garnet interjected, “But I wasn’t planning on it, either. Pearl and I haven’t ever talked about that kind of thing.”

 

Steven was quiet for a moment. Garnet knew without looking what question would come next. “Why?”

 

“Not really our way,” Garnet admitted with a shrug.

 

She knew as she said it that this wouldn’t satisfy the boy, and Garnet sighed faintly, shutting her eyes. It was easier to volunteer answers when she couldn’t see Steven’s eager face, hoping for more information. “After so many years, Steven, it’s hard. It would change everything. And Pearl is still struggling with losing out to Greg, for your mother’s affection.” Garnet paused, chuckling quietly under her breath as she looked away. “Though I suppose kissing her like I did may change things, too. It feels unfair to look into the future about that.”

 

“So you should ask!” Steven said excitedly, “It’s easy!”

 

“I don’t like asking questions, Steven.”

 

“But… won’t it be better to know?” the boy’s brows furrowed, and Garnet absently ruffled his curls. “And Pearl… I mean, I’ve got a feeling. You’d both be happier if you were together, right? Or you wouldn’t have kissed her.”

 

Steven wasn’t entirely wrong, not about that. Garnet said nothing for several seconds, then exhaled a sigh through her nose. “You’re not wrong,” she admitted, “You may not be wrong about your feeling, either. It’s just not a simple situation, Steven.”

 

Steven wondered if that was because of what had happened with Sardonyx months ago, but had a feeling that it was better not to ask. It was amazing to have seen Sardonyx again at all, even through Smoky Quartz’s eyes.

 

“Garnet?” Steven asked at length, “I know it’s not my business, but…”

 

Behind her visor, Garnet quirked a brow. “But you’re going to give me advice anyway.”

 

The boy flushed a little; nodded even though Garnet wasn’t looking at him. “I think you should tell her your feelings. You already kissed her, so I’m sure Pearl’s wondering now too. It’s better than putting it off. Jasper’s gone, but we just had that close call with the rubies, and…” he trailed off as his certainty left him.

 

That there might not be a chance to tell Pearl later hadn’t really crossed Garnet’s mind. After several thousand years of ‘later’ and ‘eventually’ _urgency_ was something that escaped her.

 

Maybe Steven was right.

 

Garnet was quiet, and after a pause, she tugged Steven into her arms for a hug. “You’ve got nothin’ to worry about,” she said softly, “We’re alright. And thanks to you and Amethyst, we’ve got Smoky Quartz to rely on now, too. We’ll be fine from now on.” Garnet smiled entirely for Steven’s sake, stroking his hair. “I told you you’d be good at Fusion one day.”

 

Despite himself, Steven laughed, and he hugged Garnet tightly around the thigh. “Yeah. I guess you were right!”

 

“Always am,” Garnet teased gently.

 

“So you’ll tell Pearl, right?”

 

“We’ll see.”

 

“Garneeeet…”

 

The Fusion knew she’d long lost the argument, even as she continued to dodge Steven’s begging for the next hour.

 

At least it eliminated any possible futures where _Steven_ was unhappy about her involvement with Pearl. Not that there had been many of those to begin with.

 

* * *

 

They returned in time to reap the benefit of Pearl’s baking adventures, which had turned out much better than anticipated. The damaged mixing bowl had been set aside for Amethyst to contend with later, and Steven was all too happy to make his excuses for leaving Garnet and Pearl alone—something to do with sharing the cookies with Sadie, despite the fact that she worked in a place that sold baked goods—before he took a half dozen of the cookies and practically bounced his way out of the house.

 

Pearl knew what he was doing. Rose had tried at least a hundred times to get her alone with Garnet for exactly the same reason—only Steven had more than a hunch to work off of where their mutual interests were concerned.

 

Thinking about that, about Garnet kissing her, brought color to Pearl’s alabaster cheeks, and she was quick to go back to tidying up the kitchen. Garnet was already there, blocking her access to the sink, so Pearl made a beeline for the oven, intent on cleaning up the countertop.

 

Garnet said nothing for a while, let Pearl bustle around behind her. The smaller Gem’s nervous energy was catching, and on impulse, Garnet turned, catching Pearl in the corner as she was about to ferry away some plates.

 

“We should talk,” Garnet said smoothly, nerves easily hidden by settling her hands on the counter at Pearl’s sides. Pearl nearly dropped the dishes in her hands, but managed to put them aside. Without something to occupy her hands with, the smaller Gem took to worrying the hem of her tunic instead.

 

“Should we?” Pearl’s voice cracked, and she felt her cheeks flush all over again.

 

Garnet nodded mutely. And in a moment of generosity, she removed her visor, letting it disappear in a flurry of light motes. Pearl’s breath caught, wide blue eyes turning up to meet Garnet’s three eyes, and the openness in the smaller Gem’s gaze made Garnet want to kiss her all over again.

 

“Yes,” Garnet affirmed, knowing there was no need, but wanting to fill the silence between them before it could turn uncomfortable. She paused, licking her lips. “I kissed you earlier.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I should’ve asked first.”

 

Despite her embarrassment, Pearl allowed herself a chuckle. She smiled up at the Fusion, reaching to ghost her fingers along the smooth curve of her jaw, up to her cheekbones. As ever, there was a subtle current beneath Garnet’s perfect skin, and Pearl could feel it running straight to her Gem. “You hate asking,” she said between giggles. “I don’t think you’ve asked a question in years.”

 

This brought a flush to Garnet’s cheeks, and she glanced away. “Well, I’ve got one,” she managed, voice tight with embarrassment.

 

“All right,” Pearl said slowly, uncertainly. “What is it?”

 

“Can I kiss you again?”

 

“ _May_ I,” Pearl corrected without thinking, before her brain caught up with her. Garnet was sporting a grin now, surely at her expense, and Pearl flushed as she realized that she had walked right into that.

 

“You may,” Garnet teased, leaning down for a kiss that had Pearl seeing stars behind her eyelids as she let them drift shut. Garnet tugged Pearl close, cradling her face in her hands, and though the feeling of dragonflies was back between them, both Gems had the presence of mind _not_ to give into the all-too-easy urge to surrender their forms, to meld into Sardonyx. Surely, Pearl thought distantly, they would destroy the kitchen if they did that.

 

But thought escaped her entirely as Garnet’s lips worked against hers, as long years of wanting precisely this took precedence. Pearl had long wanted to kiss Garnet, and like this—all slowness and pent-up longing—she could finally consider her wish utterly fulfilled.

 

When they parted, Garnet grinned. “We may need to talk later,” she said slowly, voice heady. “We’ve got an audience.”

 

“ _Aww_!”

 

“ _Steven_!?” Pearl gasped, catching sight of curly hair at the window’s ledge outside. The boy dashed past the doorway on his way down the stairs, tossing back an apology, and Pearl felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment. Of course he’d seen. This had been his doing, after all.

 

Pearl sighed, wishing she could disperse her mortification through force of will alone, and Garnet’s fingers curled around her chin, tilting her face upward to meet her eyes again. “G-Garnet?”

 

Garnet’s eyes shone with mischief, and she leaned close again, this time with her lips close to Pearl’s ear. “May I _keep_ kissing you?”

 

“Garnet!”

 

Pearl’s face was awash with color, but she had never really been one to tell Garnet no—and more importantly, she truly didn’t want to. She smiled, leaning up and catching herself, then angled her head slightly before meeting Garnet’s lips in a kiss that both Gems were glad not to have an audience for. After all, thousands of years of interest boiling beneath the surface didn’t lend to chastity. Urgency quickly replaced shyness, and soon enough Garnet had scooped Pearl up in her arms, still kissing her soundly, and the kitchen was quickly abandoned in favor of the Temple.


End file.
